Life on $7.25
Here is another story about life on minimum wage so that you have a fresh example to cite the next time you encounter a human who claims that inequality in America is actually overblown rhetoric and that it’s not actually that bad out there and that people should just work harder. (“‘I try to live within my means, but sometimes you just can’t,’ said Dupont, 25. The Houston resident works 30 to 40 hours a week taking customer service calls, earning between $7.25 and $8 an hour. That came to about $15,000 last year.”)
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Previously on The Billfold
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He should ditch his color TV for a black and white model, according to right-wing think tanks this solves inequality (or something.)
Oh and cut out those lattes!
I don’t think either side is saying minimum wage living is a walk in the park. Both sides want to alleviate poverty but they don’t agree on how to do it. Just because there are a whole lot of sob stories doesn’t mean the minimum wage should be raised. They could just as easily interview a long list of unemployed people who want minimum wage work but can’t get it; people whose hours/benefits got cut when minimum wages rose; people still not making it on the higher wage. I think you could get a sob story from every angle and it would show that raising the minimum wage isn’t a slam dunk.